The chairman of the Assembly Agriculture Committee wants to make it a crime for someone to avoid talking to authorities if they have proof that animal abuse is happening on a Wisconsin farm. Rep. Lee Nerison is planning to introduce the so-called 'ag-gag' policy in the coming weeks.

Specifically, the measure would make it illegal for people to secretly record or photograph abuse if they do not plan to report it immediately.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports that animal rights groups are vowing to fight the proposal because they believe the policy is aimed at disrupting undercover investigations. But Nerison told the newspaper that his focus is on reporting abuse, not just recording abuse.

The issue of farm animal abuse being recorded undercover has come up twice in the past year after Mercy for Animals unveiled footage of workers on two separate Wisconsin dairy farms mistreating cows.